The LORD Himself will come to His Temple

The LORD Himself will come to His Temple
© Cecilia Lawrence
January 29th 2015
Watercolor and Ink
8.5 x 11 inches

"Et statim veniet ad Templum suum Dominator quem vos quaeritis."
"And the LORD whom you seek will come suddenly to His Temple."
~ from Malachi 3:1

Happy Feast of the Presentation of the LORD! I've had this idea kicking around in my head for over a year now, so I'm glad I was finally able to finish it on paper. Depicted are two angels (St. Michael and St. Gabriel respectively) flanking the Virgin Mary who is presenting the Christ Child to a Templar Knight to kiss. Above them hovers the Holy Spirit. The "E" initial is decorated with the scene of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple, with St. Joseph, Our Lady, Jesus, Simeon and the prophetess Anna. The text is from the prophet Malachi, which foreshadows this very event. And why a Templar Knight, one may ask? Because in a medieval context whenever I think of the temple in Jerusalem I think of Templars.

Dedicated to dashinvaine, as a very, very late reply to Holy Knight because the Templar-Knight-adoring-the-Christ-Child can always use more expansion as a genre in art.